


Friday Night Drive and Dine

by sunshinesketches



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Dinner dates, F/M, Friendship, TGIF, mild moping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29367825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinesketches/pseuds/sunshinesketches
Summary: Monica's been feeling a little down and isolated since getting out of the Hex, so Darcy and Jimmy invite her out for dinner.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Jimmy Woo, Darcy Lewis & Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis & Monica Rambeau & Jimmy Woo, Darcy Lewis/Jimmy Woo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 134





	Friday Night Drive and Dine

Monica paces back and forth next to her bunk. She hates this, hates this feeling of uselessness. Ever since her scans came back blank, she’s been unofficially taken off the mission. Hayward had been reluctant to let her on to begin with, and with this new development, he easily made the argument that she was a wild card, not to go near the Hex again. She’d already been poked and prodded and interviewed every which way, but the scientists hadn’t been able to glean any useful information.

She sits down on her lumpy mattress heavily. Given that all of Westview had disappeared, there are no hotels nearby, so all agents are living in barracks on the improvised base. Sardonically, she thinks it’s a bit like sleepaway camp, except there are no fun outdoor activities, and the nightly group movie is endless reruns of _WandaVision._

She considers reading through the files again, but she’s already gone through them dozens of times and gotten nothing out of them. She considers getting dinner at the cafeteria, but she sees how the other agents look at her whenever she walks by, with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. Recently, she’s just been eating protein bars on her bed, feeling isolated as everyone else seems to rush around in little groups to run tests and write reports.

The tent is empty, so she genuinely considers just turning in very early for the night. She’s just about to pull back her sheets when someone walks in.

“Hey boss-lady,” Darcy calls out, walking towards her own bunk.

“Hi,” Monica says, a little awkwardly. It’s only 8 pm, and she doesn’t exactly want others to know she’s essentially sitting around moping. “Not your boss.”

“You’re probably infinitely higher-ranking than I am, and definitely infinitely cooler, so that basically makes you my boss,” Darcy says. “Whatcha up to?” Darcy’s rifling through her suitcase, throwing articles of clothing onto the mattress. She triumphantly finds a cozy-looking sweater and pulls it over her SWORD-issued long sleeve.

Monica smiles a little, but she knows that she’s not exactly a key part of the chain of command right now. “Nothing much,” she replies. “Seems like everyone but me has a lot of stuff going on.”

Darcy laughs. “Dude, it’s Friday.” She brushes out her hair. “Everyone’s either chilling out or heading home for the weekend.”

“Really? It’s not like SWORD to just let people see their families during a mission.” She’s always surprised by how the little things changed during the Blip. She sort of expected government bureaucracy to be the one constant in her life, and while there was certainly plenty of red tape still around, she never ever would have expected them to allow agents to prioritize personal relationships over mysterious magical force fields.

“We’ve been here for weeks, and there hasn’t been a single new episode airing on the weekends,” Darcy shrugs. “My guess is Wanda’s sticking to a standard sitcom schedule, which means weeknight releases only. People work in shifts, so it’s not like the base is ever deserted.”

Monica hums. She hadn’t noticed that pattern at all during her file reviews. Was she losing her touch?

“Anyways, Jimmy and I are gonna hit the town,” Darcy announces, swiping on lip gloss. “TGIF and all that. You wanna come?”

Monica considers her options. She could review more files and eat a protein bar, or she could follow Darcy and Jimmy around for the night. They were probably the two most normal people on base, and she could use a shot of normalcy after everything that’s been going on.

“What town is there to hit out here?” she asks. 

“Okay, so it’s not really a town. It’s more like a truck stop. But of all the truck stops I’ve been to, it’s definitely among the top five. Plus, their coffee cake is to die for,” Darcy says. She grabs her clutch and looks at Monica. “You in?”

“Sure,” Monica shrugs, “why not.”

“Cool beans,” Darcy says. “Let’s roll.”

***

They’re on the road for about 15 minutes when Monica realizes, not without mild horror, that Darcy and Jimmy are probably on a _date._ Jimmy met them at the parking lot, his hair combed a little neater than usual, and opened the side door for Darcy before sitting in the driver’s seat. He’s wearing a nice button-down instead of his usual FBI jacket and tie, and Monica even thinks she smelled a slight whiff of cologne.

Granted, he opened the door for her too, like a perfect gentleman, but she still feels like she was tagging along on an older sister’s date night. This feeling only increases when Darcy flips through radio stations to settle on a country music channel, and Jimmy laughs as though she’s just told the world’s greatest inside joke.

Monica supposes she should have known, since Darcy and Jimmy have been spending an awful lot of time together in the observation room for a scientist and an FBI agent, even if they are all technically working on the same project. Now that she thinks about it, she can’t remember the last time she saw them separately. Jesus. She really was losing her touch.

She reassures herself that she’s still a very accomplished agent for one of America’s most premier weapons and supernatural investigation agencies, with a reputation for sharp observation and quick analysis, but somehow that rings hollow when Darcy and Jimmy begin to belt out the lyrics to a early-2010s Taylor Swift track, glancing at each other over the car console and laughing whenever Jimmy’s a little off-key.

Eventually, they pull up at a retro-looking roadside diner. It’s hard to tell if the diner is styled to look like the 80s or if it’s actually just old. A bright neon sign overhead identifies it as Ellie’s Drive and Dine, and Monica hops out of the car.

“Welcome to our blessed oasis,” Darcy quips. She and Jimmy head inside with a familiarity that suggests they’ve ben here before, and Monica follows after them.

The place is mostly empty, save a couple long-haul truckers eating at separate tables. Darcy and Jimmy slide into a booth, leaving the opposite side open for Monica.

“Well, hello again to you two,” a cheerful waitress greets them. “Who’s this?”

“Hey Ellie,” Jimmy says. “This is Monica, our friend from work.”

Monica gives her a polite nod, and Ellie beams with enthusiasm that makes her feel bad for not being equally peppy.

“Hi Monica,” Ellie says. She sets down glasses of water and hands out menus. “Joining these two lovebirds today, aren’t ya?”

Monica sees Darcy and Jimmy exchange a slightly guilty look and almost wishes she had just eaten her protein bar alone on base.

“Actually, she’s a super agent, and we’re her unwitting captives. She’s going to grill us about every aspect of her personal and professional life until we wish we had never been born.” Darcy explains this very seriously to Ellie with a completely straight face, and Ellie just laughs.

Monica is a little flattered. She remembers Darcy saying she was a big fan of hers when they first met, but she was too distracted to give it much thought at the time.

“Alright, I’ll leave you guys to it. Just wave me over when you’re ready to order,” Ellie says.

As Monica peruses the menu, Darcy takes over the conversation. “Okay, the usual ground rules apply,” she announces, and Jimmy nods in agreement.

“What do you mean?” Monica asks. She instinctively looks around the restaurant, searching for something, although she doesn't know what. Threats, maybe?

“No work talk, no Blip talk, and no supernatural talk,” Darcy explains, smiling warmly at Monica.

“Good vibes only,” Jimmy chimes in, and the modern lingo sounds so absurd coming out of his usually serious persona that Monica has to blink several times in surprise. “If that’s okay with you,” he adds sheepishly.

The rules sound good to her though. She’s happy to avoid anything to do with the Hex, and she doesn’t exactly want to open up about her experiences with the Blip to her co-workers at a roadside diner.

“Okay, tell us your best celebrity encounter,” Darcy commands. “Avengers don’t count.”

“You can tell a lot about a person based on their celebrity encounters,” Jimmy nods sagely. “It should be a litmus test for all incoming agents, really.”

Monica racks her brains for an interesting story and recalls a project she had led for SWORD in L.A. during happier times. She thinks of the girlfriends she had met through the program and their post-work happy hours, unwinding together as a group after stressful days of engineering and manufacturing and testing. It feels like a lifetime ago, but those bar nights had grounded her while she adapted to the challenges of working and living somewhere new. And, of course, the occasional hot movie star could often be seen strolling the streets.

She starts. “A couple years ago, I worked on a project in Los Angeles…”

***

By the time they’ve split the bill and they’re working on desserts, Monica feels way better. The coffee cake is indeed delicious, and she’s licking icing off her fork contentedly. She doesn’t even mind that Darcy and Jimmy have dropped their “just friends” act, sharing a slice of cake à la mode across the table from her. The two of them have been nothing but welcoming all night, and she appreciates that they’re cutesy without making her feel like a third wheel.

“Isn’t it great?” Darcy takes another giant bite, which definitely puts her cake consumption at more than her half of the slice, but Jimmy just agrees with her, eating the melted ice cream pooling on their plate.

“I’m impressed,” Monica says. “I never would’ve expected the middle of nowhere to have such a nice place.”

“Middle of nowhere is apparently a popular work destination for missing persons, so I’m not complaining,” Jimmy jokes.

Monica chuckles. “I should come here more often.”

“We’ve been coming here every Friday,” Darcy says. “I can’t get the cheeseburger out of my head.”

“It’s true, she brings it up every time we line up at the cafeteria. I think she comes out more for the food than the company,” Jimmy comments dryly. He adds, “You’re welcome to join our weekly excursion, Monica. It’s nice to have some more friends on base.”

Monica thinks back on her lonely evenings and agrees. “Yeah, it really is. Thanks for inviting me, Darcy.”

“No probs,” Darcy replies. “And Jimmy is right. We’d love to have you join our gang.”

“Granted, it’s just us right now, but I think we can make space for one more person,” Jimmy says.

“I’m honoured. Does this gang have a name?” Monica raises an eyebrow, thinking of Darcy’s surprisingly successful effort to get everyone to refer to Westview as the Hex.

“Not yet,” Darcy admits, “but I’m sure three of SWORD’s finest could come up with one.”

“Uh, FBI here,” Jimmy says, shaking his head dramatically. “We are not alike.”

“I’m sure one of SWORD’s finest, an FBI agent, and a contracted consultant could come up with one.” Darcy sticks her tongue out at Jimmy.

“Friday night dinners sound great,” Monica says, laughing.

“Yes!” Darcy does a tiny fist pump. “I’m going to have dinner with the coolest person on base every Friday.”

Jimmy lets out an exaggerated sigh. “I guess I’m not needed around here anymore.”

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. You’re our chauffeur.” She follows this with an affectionate grin.

“Let’s get you girls home then,” he says. “It’s my duty as chauffeur to get everyone back to base after a night out safely and full of good food.”

“Let’s head home,” Monica agrees, reaching for her purse.

The three of them step out into the parking lot together. Monica breathes the cool evening air, and for the first time in a while, she feels at ease.


End file.
